62 RESULTS
COMMENT A nice demonstration that the inability of regulatory proteins to enter the nucleus in a functional form causes translational dysregulation and neuronal degeneration (see also the recent ARF story on TDP-43). 0 lwalker
COMMENT Two prominent messages emerge from the Sephton paper and the burgeoning literature on TDP-43: 1) TDP-43 is important for the normal functioning of cells; and 2) its actions are many and complex. This being so, is it realistic to assume that targeting one
COMMENT The ability of many cell types, both prokaryotic and eukaryotic, to disseminate and retrieve biological material is increasingly apparent. The purpose of such exchange in many instances remains unclear, and in the case of shared pathogenic protein aggrega
COMMENT A number of proteopathies coexist in the aging human brain, but whether these diseases arise independently or in pathogenic concert remains unclear. In this paper, Morales and colleagues present a reasonably compelling argument that aggregated Aβ and PrPS
COMMENT Reply to comment by James Bergey The mammalian proteins that have been shown thus far to have prion-like properties—the ability to amplify abnormal forms, presumably by the process of corruptive templating—appear to be of multiple types, and their normal
COMMENT A preliminary, yet tantalizing, survey study suggesting that immunotherapy might prevent or delay the onset of Alzheimer disease. 0 lwalker
COMMENT Bittner and colleagues succinctly describe the effects of gamma-secretase inhibition on dendritic spine density in the neocortex using in vivo, two-photon imaging in mice. The authors report that chronic, independent administration of two different gamma-
COMMENT Clavaguera, Tolnay, Goedert, and colleagues present a compelling argument for the exogenous induction and endogenous spread of tauopathy in rodent models. In these experiments, tauopathy was seeded de novo both in a transgenic mouse strain that normally d
COMMENT This paper nicely describes the use of an elegant method for assessing brain-relevant biomarkers of protein metabolism in humans. 0 lwalker
COMMENT Berthelot and colleagues describe the structure and toxicity of a mutant form of the normally benign, model amyloid protein (Het-s218-289) in yeast. The model, though involving an artificial protein construct, yields a clear correlation between structural
COMMENT Using a microtubule-binding fragment of the full-length tau protein, Frost and colleagues demonstrate that tau can assume multiple conformations that can be seeded and faithfully propagated in vitro. The findings may help to explain the structural diversi
COMMENT This study in a mouse model of prion disease is an interesting experimental approach to the longstanding question of the relationship between inflammation and neurodegeneration. The authors show that transient, LPS-induced systemic inflammation acutely ex
COMMENT It is worth reading the comments on this paper that have already been posted on Alzforum. This thorough analysis of the long-term effects of the (foreshortened) Elan Aβ-immunization trial (AN1792) in the U.K. is both sobering and, to the BAPtists among us
COMMENT More evidence that infarcts, both large and small, can interact with Alzheimer-type pathology to impair cognitive function in the elderly. The findings suggest the possibility that a healthy cerebrovascular system may buffer persons with high lesion load
COMMENT The favorable effects of increased activity on quality of life in old age are well established, but this basic study, along with another recent paper (Santana-Sosa et al., 2008), adds to the evidence that AD patients also might benefit from increased acti
